Pneumatic thread remover



June 11, 1940. R. a. TURNER PNEUMATIC THREAD REMOVER Filed Apz il l, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 urllrlf llll 4 n y m a m n am M 5 J1me 1940- R. G. TURNER 2,204,456

PNEUMATIC THREAD REMOVER Filed April 1, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lulll'lllllnlfllIIHHIIIIHIIIHHIIIHHIII, 9 I L ,y L l 59 T w 54 N 5a 57 0 F N m 59 FE/(68 1 15.5 so 11 c 1 Uh Hi; I I

F H W\ 1; Y" J 3% FIG] 39 3O T IILIII *7 mun Inventor Richard G.Tuv ner ,Patente d June 11, 194i) PATENT OFFICE 7 2,204,456 PNEUMATIC THREAD REMOVER Richard G.- Turner, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 1, 1939, Serial No. 265,472

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in thread removers for Weft replenishing looms and it is the general object of the invention to em-.

replace the exhausted bobbin in'the shuttle with a full bobbin while the lay isin one of its extreme positions, more often when the layis in 10 its foremost position. Atthis time the reed is against the fell of the cloth and the boxed shuttle is in front of the reed line. The thread extending from the selvage at the fell therefore lies diagonally across the lay in a direction forwardly and leading toward the shuttle. In the ordinary fly shuttle loom the shuttle is picked at top center with the lay approximately. half way between its front and back positions and moving rearwardly. The lay and the shuttletherefor move rearwardly away from the front center transfer position and relatively 'to the fell of the cloth to'the picking pointwhile the shuttle is in the box.

' The thread extending from the selvage is ordinarily caught between the'front wall of the shuttle and the binder and is held in this position until picking, at which time the shuttle moves out of the shuttle box and releases the thread. The latter is therefore able atthe time of picking to respond to a draft of air for its removal. I

I have found that as the lay moves rearwardly the diagonal position of the thread changes, becoming substantially parallelto the thread line, and then as the lay continues to move rearwardly assuming a position extending diagonally rear wardly from the fell and toward the shuttle. Under these conditionsa thread removerhaving an intake mouth fixed to the lay at a point 10 sufliciently forward of the reed tobe' out or the path of the shuttle will move rearwardly with the lay and overtake the thread due to thefact that one end of the latteris attached to a fixed. point, namely, the fell of the cloth. Becauseof the relationshipjust described I'am enabled to mount a pneumatic thread extractor on the lay in front of the thread and rely upon the changing relation of the thread remover and thread to move said'remover into a position where it can control the thread at the time it is released'by picking of the shuttle; Any form'of cutter may be employed to sever the thread in the shuttle box or at any other point beyond the thread remover with reference to beat oftheloom.

the cloth on the transfer In ord'er'to render the thread remover effective I connect the same to a pump or the like for creating sub-atmospheric; pressures at the time. the thread isjreleased, that is at time of shuttle picking. The end of the thread connected to the clothwill remain attached to the selvage several picks and then becut by the, temple cutter, after which the whole of the thread will be removed.

The thread remover is able to overtake the thread because of the differential rearward motion existing'between the lay and the thread. This differential motion is -a maximum at the 4 selvage and is non-existent at the shuttle. Be cause of this condition it is desirable that the intake mouth of the thread remover be located asv close as convenient to the selvage of the cloth where advantage can be taken of a relatively large differential rearward motion betweenthe' lay and the thread.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention'resides in the combination and arrange- A ment of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth, v Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a loom having my invention applied" thereto, parts being shown diagrammatically, with the'lay moving rearwardly immediately after transfer,

Fig. 2 isa plan view on an enlarged scale looking in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1 and showing the lay L in its front center position,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fi 2,

Figs. 4 to 9 are diagrammatic views showing the lay in different positions to set forth the changing relationship between the thread remover and the thread and also indicate how the latter is controlled by the thread remover, and I Fig. 10 is a detail vertical section on line |0l0,- Fig. 2. f

Referring particul 7 have shown a loom frame l0 having a layL moving about a, pivot H near the bottom of the loom and driven by a crank connector l2 operated by a crank arm l3 on the top or crank shaft M. The latter has a revolution'forv each beat'of the lay and moves the latter between front and back positions aswill be apparent from Fig. 1;" The loom operates according to the usual cycle wherein the shuttle is picked at top center with the lay'moving rearwardly and the crank arm 13 substantiallyvertically over theshaft, after arly 'toFigs. 1,2 and 3, I i

which the shuttle travels across the loom to be boxed at or not long after bottom center position with the lay moving forwardly and the crank arm !3 hanging downwardly from the shaft M. Thereafter the shuttle remains in its shuttle box while the lay moves forwardly to beat up the weft into the cloth and moves approximately half of its rearward stroke to picking position at top center.

The loom frame supports a pneumatic cylinder 29 having a piston 2! with a piston rod 22 pivoted to the upper end of a lever 23 driven from the lay by means of a connector 24 the rear end of which is attached to the lever and the front end of which is connected pivotally with the lay at 25. Back and forth motion of the lay therefore causes reciprocation of the piston 2! in the cylinder and it will be observed that a sub-atmospheric pressure will be created in front of the piston, that is, to the left thereof as viewed in Fig. 1, when the lay is moving rearwardly and through the picking position.

A flexible tube 39 is connected to the front of the cylinder and has the interior thereof in pneumatic communication with the interior of the cylinder in front of the piston. When the lay reverses and moves forwardly to produce a similar motion of the piston, a valve 3! acts to prevent air from escaping from the cylinder into the tube 30. To relieve the compression in front of the piston I provide an escape valve 32 which will open as the piston moves forwardly but will close as it moves rearwardly. By the mechanism just described I create intermittent subatmospheric pressures in the tube 3ft during rearward motions of the lay and at the time of picking, but seal the tube temporarily from the pump when the piston is moving forwardly.

The loom may be provided with replenishing mechanism having a magazine designated generally at R to supply a series of reserve bobbins one of which is indicated at B, and may include also a transferrer arm 35 pivoted at 36 and operated by a latch 3'! to have operative connection with the lay at the time of transfer to effect a simultaneous descent of the bobbin B into the shuttle S and expulsion of the depleted bobbin B from the shuttle. A thread cutter designated generally at C and cooperating with a plate 37 on the shuttle acts to out the thread at the time of transfer, after which the thread will be held between the front wall of the shuttle and the binder 3B. The usual temple T has a thread cutter 39 given a cutting stroke by each forward motion of the lay. This part of the disclosure may be similar to that set forth in the aforesaid co-pending application Serial No. 190,637 and the effect of this mechanism is to cut the thread of the outgoing bobbin at a point adjacent to the shuttle eye and leave the weft thread W connected to the fell of the cloth at a point F but free to move out of the shuttle box 49 when released by picking of the shuttle. The details of the pump'may if desired be as set forth in greater detail in my co-pending application Serial No. 166,571, and the magazine and transfer mechanism may be of the usual form or as shown in my prior Patent No. 2,128,915.

In carrying my present invention into effect I provide the forward part of the lay with a small bearing 59 to receive a vertically extending pipe or tube the upper end of which may be curved b-ackwardly to present a rearwardly opening intakemouth M, as shown in Figs. 3 and 10. The rearwardly extending part of this pipe may be provided with a thread receiving pocket 52 formed by downwardly and forwardly inclined surfaces 53 and upwardly and forwardly inclined surfaces 54. The vertical position of the pipe 5! is adjusted in the bearing by means of a set screw 55 which permits the pocket to be set in such a position that it will receive the weft thread W. Set screw 55 also permits angular adjustment of pipe 5! in the bearing 50. The lower end of the pipe 5! is connected to the tube 30 and the latter may if desired be extended down along the lay sword 5! to a point near the pivot l! to reduce flexing of the tube. I do not wish however to be limited to this detail of construction and control of the tube 39. A thread accumulator A is interposed in the pipe 39 to collect the weft ends transmitted through the intake mouth. For details of the construc tion of this accumulator reference may be had to my aforesaid applications and also Serial No. 199,169.

As shown in Fig. I prefer to insert a rubber tube 19 into the pipe 5! partly for the purpose of increasing the frictional hold which the thread remover has on the weft thread W and partly to overcome the clinging of the thread to the tube due to static electricity.

The operation of my present invention. will be described in connection with Figs. i to 9, inclusive. In Fig. 4 the lay is on front center on a transferring beat of the loom with the thread W extending from the fell F into the shuttle box 40 and between the binder 38 and the shuttle S. As set forth in my prior application Serial No. 190,637 the thread cutter C will operate at this time to sever the weft W at a point adjacent to the shuttle eye when the transferrer arm 35 descends to effect transfer. The intake mouth M is a considerable distance in front of the weft thread W and the latter extends diagonally forward and toward the shuttle.

As the lay moves rearwardly it will pass through an intermediate stage such as shown in Fig. 5 before reaching picking position. In this Fig. 5 it will be seen that the distance between the mouth M and the weft is less than that indicated in Fig. 4. This is due to the fact that the point F remains stationary while the thread remover moves backwardly with the lay.

Fig. 6 shows the condition just prior to picking with the lay moved to top center position and the thread remover intersecting the path of the thread W. When in the position shown in Fig. 6 the thread will be in the pocket 52. The position of Fig. '7 is that existing immediately after picking has started with the shuttle approaching the cloth and releasing the thread W so that it can assume the position indicated.

It is to be understood that when the parts are in the position of Figs. 5, G and 7 the lay is moving rearwardly and therefore the pump is creating sub-atmospheric pressures at the mouth M of the thread remover. Assuming. therefore, that the thread W is released as indicated in Fig. '7 it will be immediately drawn pneumatically into the tube 5! as indicated in dotted lines and not be dragged into the warp shed with the shuttle.

Fig. 8 shows the position on the next front center with the shuttle on the opposite side of the loom and the right or free end of the thread still retained by the thread remover.

The position of Fig. 9 is that which exists several picks after transfer when the temple cutter 39 has severed the thread from the selvage,

therefore, releasing thethread so that it can be drawn as a whole into the-mouth M and along thetubes and 30 to the accumulator A; With the completion of the operation described inconnection with Fig. 9 the thread is removedfrom the lay "and'out of 'the'path r the shuttle so' that it cannot be drawn into the warp shed to produce imperfections.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have presented a simple form of pneumatic thread remover mounted on the lay and having an intake mouth infront of the thread so that dif-- ferential rearward motion of the lay with respect to the thread W will permit the mouth M to approach the thread and control it at the time of picking. It will further be seen that the thread remover is adjustable both vertically and angularly so that the mouth 52 may be located in most advantageous position for receiving the thread W. It will also be seen that the tube 52 leads downwardly from the race of the lay to be outof the way of the operator who may wish to take the shuttle out of the shuttle box or give attention to some part of the magazine.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art'without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to belimited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle box containing. a shuttle from which a thread extends to the fell of the cloth, means to cut the thread adjacent to the shuttle, a pneu- I shuttle box containing a shuttle from which a thread extends to the fell of the cloth, a pneumatic thread holder movable rearwardly with the lay and having an inlet mouth for the thread, means to cut the thread adjacent to the shuttle, and means to induce arush of air into the inlet mouth as the lay moves rearwardly, rearward motion of the lay causing the inlet mouth to approach and exert a pneumatic attractive force on the thread to draw the same into the mouth.

3. In a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle box containing a shuttle from which a thread extends to the fell of the cloth, means to cut the thread adjacent -to the shuttle, a pneumatic thread remover'mounted on the lay and having an intake mouth, and means to induce a rush of air into the mouth as the lay moves rearwardly and during the time of picking in the loom cycle, rearward motion of the lay causing the thread remover to move toward and exert a pneumatic attractive force on the thread to draw the latter into the intake mouth at the picking point in the loom cycle.

4. In a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle box containing a shuttle from which a thread extendsto the fell of the cloth, the thread extending diagonally forwardly from the fell of the cloth and moving rearwardly with the the thread occurring during rearward motion of the'lay due to attachment of the thread to the cloth effecting movement of the intake mouth toward the thread and into a position to attract the "latter pneumatically into the mouth as the lay moves backwardly.

5. In a loom having a lay provided with ashuttle box containing a, shuttle from which athread extend-s to the fell of the cloth, the thread extending .diagonally forward from the fell of the moving rearwardly at a rate less than that at I which the lay moves rearwardly due to the fact that said threadis connected to the fell of the cloth,'a thread remover mounted on the lay and having an intake mouth in front of said part of the thread, and means to induce a draft of air into the thread remover, rearward motion of the lay causing the thread remover to overtake the thread and attract the latter pneumatically into the thread remover as the lay moves rearwardly. r

6. In a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle box containing a shuttle from which a thread extendsto the fell of the .cloth, the thread extending diagonally forwardly from the fell of the cloth to the shuttle and said thread moving rearwardly with the lay to cause a difi'erential 'motion between the rate of rearward motion of the thread and the lay due to the fact that the thread is connected to the cloth, means to out the thread in the shuttle box, a pneumatic thread remover having an intake mouth moving with the lay and located in front of that part of the thread with respect to which the lay has a relatively large difierential rearward motion, and means to induce a draft of air into the intake mouth when the lay is moving rearwardly, rearward motion of the lay causing the intake mouth to approach the thread closely enough to attract the same pneumatically into the thread remover. mouth as the lay moves rearwardly.

'7. In a. loom having a lay provided with a shuttle box containing a shuttle from which a thread extends to the fell of the cloth, one end of the threadbeing held substantially stationary at the cloth and the other end of the thread extending into the shuttle box to move rearwardly with the lay, a pneumatic thread remover on the lay having'an intake mouth adjacent to the cloth, means to induce a draft of air into the intake mouth, and means tocut the thread in the shuttle box, rearward motion of the lay causing the intake mouth to move rearwardly at a rate greater than that part of the thread behind the intake mouth and thereby causing the latter to approach and attract the thread pneumatically into the intake mouth as the lay moves rearwardly.

8. In a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle box containing a shuttle from which .a thread extends to the fell of-the cloth, a pneumatic thread holder movable rearwardly with the lay and having an inlet mouth in front of air into the inlet mouth as the lay moves rear wardly, rearward motion of the lay causing the inlet to move toward'and exert a pneumatic attractive force on the thread to draw the latter into the inlet mouth.

9. In a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle box containing a shuttle from which a thread extends to the fell of the cloth, means to cut the thread adjacent to the shuttle, a pneumatic thread remover on the lay having an intake mouth to receive the thread and extending downwardly from the lay, and means to induce suh-atm0spheric pressures in the thread holder to cause a rush of air into the mouth, movement of the lay rearwardly with respect to the fell of the cloth causing approach of the intake mouth to the thread.

RICHARD G. TURNER. 

